Jaipur, December 18: Unheralded teenagers Prabhsimran Singh and Prayas Ray Barman attracted astonishing bids during the IPL auction to laugh their way to the bank on a day when superstar Dale Steyn went unsold and once a hot-property Yuvraj Singh struggled to find a buyer.
| Players List" />As it happened | Players List
Punjab's wicket keeper batsman Prabhsimran, all of 18, was taken by Preity Zinta owned Kings XI Punjab for Rs 4.80 crore while Virat Kohli-led Royal Challengers Bangalore shelled out Rs 1.5 crore for 16-year-old Barman, who is an all-rounder from Bengal. Both the players had a base price of Rs 20 lakh.
Thanks @lionsdenkxip It’s a big platform for me and I am looking forward to my debut in @IPL https://t.co/1Jlls29Sxd
— Prabhsimran Singh (@prabhsimran01) December 18, 2018
In contrast Yuvraj was sold for Rs one crore by Mumbai Indians late in the day having got a deal of Rs 14 crore by the RCB in 2014. The intense bidding for the two youngsters showed that the teams were willing to loosen their purse strings for talent and not just the names.
Prabhsimran has played only four List A matches and was part of the Indian team which finished a runner-up at the recent ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup in Sri Lanka.
11 wickets at a meager economy rate in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, the young 16 year old will learn a lot from @yuzi_chahal!#12thMan, welcome Prayas Ray Barman to Bengaluru!#PlayBold #BidForBold #IPLAuction pic.twitter.com/TBoiNMmT35
— Royal Challengers (@RCBTweets) December 18, 2018
The Punjab batsman idolises explosive Virender Sehwag. The attacking batsman scored 298 runs for his side in the Under-23 tournament. In the Cooch Behar trophy in season 2017-18, he scored 547 runs for Punjab, hitting three centuries.
Barman, a leg-break bowler, was very impressive during the Vjjay Hazare Trophy.